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Greek Stuffed Eggplant – Papoutsakia

What? The summer is almost over and only two eggplant recipes on the blog? Unbelievable, inexcusable and unthinkable, all together. So, it’s time to compensate you for my oversight with the ultimate, delicious, summery eggplant recipe. Greek stuffed eggplant, called “melitzanes papoutsakia” = “eggplant little shoes” in Greek. Right! Little shoes! Why? Well, just take a look at the shape of the eggplant and let your imagination run wild.

The origin of this recipe is lost in the Ottoman cuisine and the thousands of ways of cooking eggplant from central Asia to the Middle East. Eggplants were introduced to Greece mostly during the Ottoman’s occupation and spread throughout the Balkans. However, the Greek version includes a lush topping of béchamel sauce, a relatively new addition to this dish introduced by the famous Greek chef Tselementes back in 1920. His books shared his vision for a refined Greek cuisine and confronted many traditional recipes to the French cuisine. This explains the addition of French cooking element to this recipe and many others like the famous Greek moussaka. You may keep the sauce or replace it with lighter and even vegetarian options mentioned below.

But first things first. Ready for the recipe?

In a nutshell, bake the eggplants. My stuffed eggplant recipe is a tasty alternative to the heavy fried eggplant recipe. Frying has never been my favorite cooking way. I assure you that baked eggplant is equally delicious and much easier to digest than fried one.

Brush eggplant skin and flesh with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and oregano.

Place the eggplant halves in a parchment-lined baking pan, cut side down

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until softened and lightly golden.

In the meantime, prepare the ground meat. Choose pretty much whatever red meat you want: beef, pork, lamb. Nevertheless, if you want this dish to be an amazing culinary experience, make it with ground lamb. Highly recommended! Try something new, get out of your comfort zone and cook with new ingredients. Lamb is so much tastier than beef with bold, rich flavor that almost explodes in your mouth from the first bite. Believe me, it is a very modest description of its taste. Combined with eggplant it gives you an insanely delicious meal. Topped with the creamy sauce and you cannot get enough of it!

Make the béchamel sauce. The Greek version of the béchamel sauce has the extra addition of beaten eggs and often cheese. Well, let’s say it isn’t the lighter dish of the Mediterranean cuisine. Truth being said, Greek stuffed eggplant is more on the comfort food zone.

By the time the eggplants are baked, the ground meat and the béchamel sauce should be ready for you to assemble. Easy and fun part.…and bake for a while.

Ready to serve.

You may make ahead of time the eggplants and the meat and finish with the béchamel sauce half an hour before you serve the dish. Not only they freeze extremely well but they are even tastier the following day. I have never frozen them but I am quite sure they will be just fine.

Here are some suggestions so that you choose your favorite version:

Make a lighter sauce. How about a yogurt sauce instead of the thick, rich creamy béchamel one? This one is perfect for baked veggies. I love it with Briam which is another exquisite eggplant recipe.

Make it Paleo. Top it with tomato, pepper slices, and olive oil. I called it the “lazy papoutsakia” and I serve it when I am too bored to make the béchamel sauce. You know one of these days when you want to make something quick, tasty and healthy. While researching for this post, I found out that it is actually a Turkish recipe called “Karniyarik”, extremely popular. How cool is that?

Make it vegetarian. Replace the meat with your favorite veggies. I highly recommend mushrooms for that recipe and top it with cheese like feta, parmesan, whatever you like or you have at hand.

Serve with your favorite salad. I recommend a Greek salad, rich in capers (try to find capers leaves. Crazy, delicious ingredient) and olives. Their acidity is so tastefully combined with the creamy and meaty baked eggplants. Something important is missing. Hello!!! The wine! Serve it with red dry wine like Agiorgitiko or Xinomavro and you are going to have an amazing dinner, ladies, and gentlemen!

Show me what you made on Instagram. Tag me to see your Greek stuffed eggplant masterpieces and follow me for more day to day Mediterranean cooking tips, meals, ideas, and healthy lifestyle.

Use a sharp knife to criss-cross and score the flesh. You should only carve each eggplant half, not puncture or cut them completely down to the skin. Brush eggplant skin and flesh with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and oregano.

Place the eggplant halves in a parchment-lined baking pan, cut side down. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until softened and lightly golden. Remove from oven and set aside.

GROUND MEAT SAUCE ==> In the meantime, in a large pan or deep skillet over medium heat add the olive oil. Add the onion for 5 minutes and stir in the garlic for another for 3 minutes. Add the ground meat, stir lightly and sauté for 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, sugar, and cinnamon (optional), raise heat to medium-high and simmer for at least 20 minutes until most of the liquid cooks off. Remove from heat, add the cheese, parsley or/and mint (optional). Remove the cinnamon stick if used. Set aside to cool.

While the meat sauce is simmering prepare THE BECHAMEL ==> Add the butter to a small pot over medium-low heat. Once it melts add the flour, salt, pepper and stir continuously for a few mins. Add gradually (3-4 times) the lukewarm milk* to the flour/butter mixture. Each time stir vigorously and wait until the milk is completely incorporated. Remove from heat* and add the nutmeg, cheese, egg yolks, salt, and pepper. Continue to stir until the sauce thickens.

ASSEMBLING ==> Use a spoon to fill the eggplant halves with meat sauce. Top with béchamel and bake in a preheated 356 °F (180°C) oven for 20 mins or until browned.

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HELLO EVERYONE!!!
Welcome to 30 Days of Greek Food. You are about to discover an exciting way of eating non-processed, super tasteful food, based on the Mediterranean Diet, mostly on the Greek version of it. I will share my passion for the gastronomy, the culinary tradition and the products of that region by proposing a 30 day program. It will be so much easier for you to follow and enjoy the enormous benefits of that healthy lifestyle. Read More…